pheri vasāiā pheruāṇi satiguri khāḍūru.
japu tapu sanjamu nāli tudhu horu mucu garūru.
labu viṇāhe māṇasā jiu pāṇī būru.
varhiai dargah gurū kī kudratī nūru.
jitu su hāth na labhaī tūṁ ohu ṭharūru.
naü nidhi nāmu nidhānu hai tudhu vici bharpūru.
nindā terī jo kare so vanñai cūru.
neṛai disai mātlok tudhu sujhai dūru.
pheri vasāiā pheruāṇi satiguri khāḍūru.5.
-Guru Granth Sahib 967
Rai Balvand and Sata Dum describe the establishment of Khadur Sahib, Panjab, by Guru Angad Sahib after returning from Kartarpur Sahib (modern-day Pakistan). This pauri (stanza) describes the treasure of Nam (Identification with IkOankar) are enshrined within the Guru and that greed, pride, and slander destroy the being.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the fifth stanza, Satta and Balvand discuss the history of Guru Angad, the son of Pheru, and his furthering of Guru Nanak’s mission. Guru Angad, now the heir apparent and the next Guru, carries on the Raj started in Kartarpur and expands it to Khadur. He further establishes and develops the Raj by founding the town of Khadur, which would function as a second Sikh Center. The Bards go on to praise Guru Angad by reframing recitation, austerity, and discipline within the context of the Guru’s revolution. Guru Angad is the one who has true recitation, austerity, and discipline, while the rest of the world is carrying much pride. Others might think they have these qualities but take great pride in them. The Guru is the exception. Worldly beings are destroyed by their greed like scum destroys water. The Guru does not experience this greed.
In the court of the Guru, Divine light rains down constantly, within the Guru and within the Guru’s court, in the city established by the Guru. This court is Graceful, and it is about the political and the spiritual together. In other worldly courts, there is no Grace. But Grace is constantly raining down upon the Guru’s court. This grace and this divine light are visible; it is a lived reality that can be seen in the court and the devotees within that court, in their actions, in the radiance on their faces, in their service.
There is no end to the Guru, no limit that can be found. The Guru is providing coolness, satiation, and comfort to the disciples, carrying the treasure of Nam or Identification with IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). This single treasure is equated to the nine treasures of the Indic systems. The treasure of Nam is abundant within the Guru, completely overflowing and being given to the devotees. Satta and Balvand continue their praise, saying that if anyone slanders the Guru, they become dust. This is not to say that the Guru curses those who slander him, but instead that those who commit slander of the Guru are burning up from the inside, suffering internally. To the mortal world, those that doubt the Guru or the passing of the Guruship, people are only measuring things by their own metrics. We judge based on our experiences, logic, and what we deem normal or acceptable. We are short-sighted and quick to make judgments. But the Guru sees beyond this short-sightedness, into things beyond just the immediate reality around us, toward a truth that is larger than individual perceptions and metrics. The Guru is looking at Reality with a capital “R,” living in the idea of the truth, the eternal, not escaping the world but seeing beyond it.
The Bards end by repeating the first line, saying, then, the true Guru, the son of Pheru, established Khadur. They were emphasizing that Guru Angad is the true Guru, pointing directly to his legitimacy as next in line for the Guruship despite how other people might have reacted to his anointing. This Guru, the true Guru, established a Sikh center where people could live and feel divinity. He did this without pride or ego, with great discipline, austerity, and recitation or remembrance. He was able to do all of this because he saw the real world, the world in its wholeness, not just the world in front of him, colored by his own experiences, judgments, and metrics. Will we come out of our short-sightedness, our judgments colored by our own small experiences? Will we try to become like the Guru and see the world in its wholeness?
In the court of the Guru, Divine light rains down constantly, within the Guru and within the Guru’s court, in the city established by the Guru. This court is Graceful, and it is about the political and the spiritual together. In other worldly courts, there is no Grace. But Grace is constantly raining down upon the Guru’s court. This grace and this divine light are visible; it is a lived reality that can be seen in the court and the devotees within that court, in their actions, in the radiance on their faces, in their service.
There is no end to the Guru, no limit that can be found. The Guru is providing coolness, satiation, and comfort to the disciples, carrying the treasure of Nam or Identification with IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). This single treasure is equated to the nine treasures of the Indic systems. The treasure of Nam is abundant within the Guru, completely overflowing and being given to the devotees. Satta and Balvand continue their praise, saying that if anyone slanders the Guru, they become dust. This is not to say that the Guru curses those who slander him, but instead that those who commit slander of the Guru are burning up from the inside, suffering internally. To the mortal world, those that doubt the Guru or the passing of the Guruship, people are only measuring things by their own metrics. We judge based on our experiences, logic, and what we deem normal or acceptable. We are short-sighted and quick to make judgments. But the Guru sees beyond this short-sightedness, into things beyond just the immediate reality around us, toward a truth that is larger than individual perceptions and metrics. The Guru is looking at Reality with a capital “R,” living in the idea of the truth, the eternal, not escaping the world but seeing beyond it.
The Bards end by repeating the first line, saying, then, the true Guru, the son of Pheru, established Khadur. They were emphasizing that Guru Angad is the true Guru, pointing directly to his legitimacy as next in line for the Guruship despite how other people might have reacted to his anointing. This Guru, the true Guru, established a Sikh center where people could live and feel divinity. He did this without pride or ego, with great discipline, austerity, and recitation or remembrance. He was able to do all of this because he saw the real world, the world in its wholeness, not just the world in front of him, colored by his own experiences, judgments, and metrics. Will we come out of our short-sightedness, our judgments colored by our own small experiences? Will we try to become like the Guru and see the world in its wholeness?
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